Upholstering machine



G. N. ABBEY UPHOLSTERiING MACHINE May 5, 1 25. 1,536,183

Filed Sept. 16, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet'l mum 01mm "I" I! III III I h "I III I HI m .2 III May 5,1925.

1,536,183 G. N. ABBEY UPHOLSTERING MACHINE Filed Sept. 16, 1924 2SheetsSheet 2 gwvntoz Geoiye fl. flMey.

Patented May 5, 1925-.

UNITED TES 1,536,183 ATE-NT iTQtFiFIf" GEORGE eastwards 3011m cononiano,Assrefnonor oiqnj gr-rgr ro an: =1

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Application filedfieptember is. 1924. Seria1- No. 737 ,976. i

To all whom-it mag concern: V v

Beuit known that I, Grouse N. ABBEY, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Boulder, county of Boulder,and State of Colorado, have invented, certain. new :and usefulImprovements in Upholstering 1 achines; and I do declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable othersfslrilled in the art to which it appertainsto make anduse the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and. tothe characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for upholstering.

In the manufacture of cushions for furniture-and bed mattresses,considerable difficulty is usually experienced in introducingthe-stuffing material into the. casings. This especially true wherespring assemblies are used'as in overstuffed cushions.

It is the object of this invention to; producea machine that isadapted-tombs employed in the manufacture of cushions and mattressesofany size and of the overstuffed or the other kind, and which willgreatly facilitate the manufacture.

My invention can be most clearly described and will be most readilyunderstood when reference is had to the accompanying drawings in whichthe preferred embodiment thereof is shown, and in which Fig. 1 is a topplan view of my machine with parts thereof broken away to betterdisclose the construction;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the machine shown in F ig. l, a portionthereof being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of my machine at one period in itsoperation;

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5 5, Fig. 4, a portion of the casingbeing shown in place thereon;

Fig. 6 is a detail of the end member; and

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 7-7, Fig. 4.

My machine comprises a frame having end pieces 1 and 2, top members 3and 4 and bottom members 5, which form a rectangular structure to whichthe supporting members 6 and 7 are secured. Members 6 and 7 aresubstantially identical, each having a bot overlap in, the: mannerclearly -in'dicated in Figs. 1 and3. Member "7 is aldjuStablewithrespect to member 6 and its,.p osition is determined by two doubledpitch screws and 12 .whoseends are .journaled in theend pieces 1 and 2and-are rotated by cranks-.13 and 14respectively. fiecured to.thev'ertical sideS of the member 7 ,il'l ehlllltS 15 and-.16 which.cooperate. respectively 1 with the screws 11 and 12. I It is nowapparent thatll the' operator, bymeans of the cranks 13 and .14, canrotate the screws 11 and, 12 andthereby move member '7 withrespect toEmember', 6. Since the screws 11 and12 are connected to the member 7 atspaced distances-ibis evident that by unequal rotation of the screws,the member 7 can be tilted with respect, to the member 6 so asjtobe fparallel therewith or inclined with respect-thereto.- Slidajbly mountedin gui'desll' carried bythe transverse frame members 3 and 4 are racks18 which are operatively related to the pinions 19 that are secured tothe shaft 20. A crank 21 is secured to the shaft and serves as the meansby which it may be rotated for the purpose of reciprocating the racks.Secured to the forward ends of the racks is a sheet metal plunger head22 whose cross-section is somewhat channehshaped and which extendstransversely of the racks. An adjustable extension member 23 isconnected to the member 22 by means which permits the two to berelatively adjusted. By rotating the shaft 20 and pinions 19, theplunger head comprising the members and 23 may be reciprocated. An endmember 24 of channel-shaped cross-section has secured near one endthereof a pin 25 which is adapted to engage in an opening 26 in the side8 of memher 6. Secured to the other end of member 24 is anattachingmeans 27 comprising a spring 28.

Let us now assume that the machine is adjusted so that the parts assumethe relations shown in 1 and that it is desired to make an overstuffedcushion whose size is substantially equal to the space between the sides8, the end 24 and the plunger Ill) members 22 and 23. A layer of cottonbatting 29 (Fig. 7 is first laid on the supporting members and upon thislayer 30 of hair. A spring assembly 31 is then placed upon the layer ofhair and on top of this I place a layer 32 of hair and a layer 33 ofcotton. The space between the spring assembly and the sides, end andplunger is now stuflied with cotton or hair, as indicated by numerals34. The plates 35 and 36 are then put in place with their outer edgesunderneath the inturned flanges 9 in the manner shown in Figs. 4 and 7.Pressure may now be exerted on the upper surface of plates 35 and 36 soas to compress the material underneath. For the purpose of holding thematerial compressed while the casing 37 is put into place, I provide aholding means consisting of a bar 38 which is held in adjusted positionby means of a clamp 39. With the parts in the position shown in Figs. 4and 7 the end piece 24 is removed and by means of the screws 11 and 12the sides 8 are moved together to the extent required to permit thecasing 37 to be drawn over the end of the machine to the position shownin Fig. 5. After the casing has been put into place, the screws 11 and12 are operated to move the sides 8 apart until the casing is stretchedto some extent.

The operator now grasps the crank 21 and rotates the same in such adirection that the plunger moves outwardly, whereby the insides and thecasing will be moved outwardly in a manner clearly apparent from thedrawings. When the cushion has been shoved entirely of? from the machineby the plunger, the plates 35 and 36 are withdrawn from the cushion andthe open side sewed up, which completes the same.

If the stufiing of the cushion or mattress is formed exclusively of hairor cotton, the material can be formed by superimposed layers which givebetter results than if the material were stuffed into the cushion in theusual manner.

It is obvious that the machine can be made as large or as small asdesired and may therefore be used for making small cushions or large bedmattresses.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new is:

In an upholstering machine, in combination, a frame, a supporting membercomprising two parts, each of which has a bottom portion and a sideportion, the bottom portions being overlapping, the side portions havingtheir upper edges bent towards each other so as to form overhangingflanges, one of said parts having one end secured to said frame, meansfor moving said parts.

towards and away from each other, a plunger slidably connected to saidframe, means for reciprocating said plunger, and a top for saidsupporting member, said top consisting of two separate plates adapted tooverlap each other, one edge of each of said plates being adapted toproject under said overhanging flanges.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature.

GEORGE N. ABBEY.

